WE ARE MANY AND THEY ARE FEW

So you hope that one person can solve everything.

A pair of highly complementary singer-songwriters came to Vaudeville Mews on Saturday night. Damien Jurado, from Seattle, has this high, lonesome voice that perfectly suits his mournful, meditative folk songs. San Francisco-based John Vanderslice has a more conversational type of voice, keeping the focus on his vivid, finely wrought storytelling, as you might expect from a guy who has worked with word-smart veterans like the Mountain Goats and Death Cab for Cutie. Both Jurado, the opener, and Vanderslice, the headliner, put on riveting performances in front of a mostly rapt and hushed crowd that paid $15 a ticket, in comparison with the $5 to $10 most of the shows I go to cost.

UNTIL THE BIRDS RETURN FOR SPRING CLEANING

Ciroc and Sprite on a private flight.

A bunch of shows have been added-- Bangladesh! E-40! The Blow! The triumphant debut of massively hyped local supergroup Mantis Pincers! Wheels on Fire! The Poison Control Center's record release party! Lovers! Wiz Khalifa! All Tiny Creatures! Bright Eyes, people!-- and I've been to a few shows I haven't covered here yet. Let's recap and look forward all at once.

As Bill Murray says in a movie I thought I'd never seen but once we got halfway through watching it last night I realized I'd totally seen it before: The past is done, the future isn't here yet, so I guess all we have is the present.

QUARTERLY-ISH REPORT 1Q 2011

He's human, I'm human, you human.

So usually I try to limit my quarterly reports to albums and tracks that technically came out in the previous three months. But I always post these things waaay late. And release dates matter less than ever. So please consider this a provisional "best of 2011 list"-- with huge omissions, I'm sure-- dated as of... now?